EL PASO — Gov. Greg Abbott, in El Paso the same day that President Donald Trump visited the city still grieving over last weekend's massacre, met behind closed doors with the area's Democratic state lawmakers to chart a path to deal with deadly violence.

"Even though our hearts may be broken, it's our responsibility to show a stiff spine and resolve ... to begin today the process of working together," Abbott said as he opened the Wednesday morning meeting while reporters were present.

The Republican governor was joined by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. El Paso's all-Democratic delegation agreed to meet with the state's GOP leadership, but has rebuffed any attempts to join Trump when he arrives later in the afternoon.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said even though our hearts may be broken, it's our responsibility to lay the groundwork of how we're going to respond to the shooting in El Paso.(Photo: Bethany Freudenthal/Sun-News)

After the closed-door session, Abbott promised fast action to address what he called the "tremendous insight" and "great ideas" provided by the El Paso Democratic lawmakers.

"We must respond quickly ... so the people of El Paso know we as leaders are going to step up and do something to solve what happened here," Abbott said.

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said that El Paso is above the hate on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019.(Photo: Bethany Freudenthal/Sun-News)

He did not lay out specific policy goals, other than to say the state must "go above and beyond" actions taken to address school violence in the aftermath of the March 2018 shootings at Santa Fe High School in Galveston that left 10 dead.

For the first time since the El Paso shootings, the governor called the violence both hateful and racist.

"In this case we are dealing with domestic terrorism," he said. "We're dealing with a white supremacist, we're dealing with racism. We're dealing with broad-based challenges that have to be tackled."

Before leaving to greet Trump at the El Paso Airport, the governor also said $5 million in state aid was coming El Paso's way.

After the governor spoke, El Paso state Sen. Jose Rodriguez in a statement called called the closed-door conference productive.

"We all agreed that gun violence and white nationalism are pressing issues," said Rodriguez, who leads the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus. "Gov. Abbott, in his remarks, was frank about calling the shooter a white supremacist and his actions domestic terrorism.

"All leaders, from local to state to federal, must reject the ideology of white supremacy."

State Rep. Cesar Blanco, an El Paso Democrat who represents the area when the shooting happened told the El Paso Times and USA Today Network he came away heartened that the governor promised to address the causes of hate-based violence.

"He did acknowledge that this was white supremacy and domestic terrorism," said Blanco, who added that he looks forward to a deeper, more detailed discussion once the roundtables are convened."

U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz met with reporters in the same building near El Paso Airport before Abbott's roundtable. Both praised the city's resolve, and both condemned what they called the mass killing that was fueled by racial hatred.

Cornyn said he and Cruz were briefed by the FBI, which described Saturday's shooting at a local Walmart where Hispanics were targeted and 22 were killed as "racially motivated violent extremism."

Cruz said "El Paso has seen the face of evil."

Cruz and Cornyn were asked about measures Congress could take to address the epidemic of deadly mass shootings, including two this weekend that left a total of 31 dead. The senators sidestepped questions about reducing access to high-powered, military-style rifles and high-round magazines like the ones used in the El Paso shooting and the shooting in Dayton, Ohio, some 13 hours later.

"There is no doubt that Congress needs to do more," Cruz said. He specifically mentioned legislation he is pushing in the Senate to beef up criminal background checks for would-be gun buyers and to create a gun-crimes task force to target felons seeking to illegally acquire weapons.

But he pushed back on a question about whether measures to curb high-round magazines might limit the carnage of mass shootings. He bristled at what he called a question meant to politicize the issue.

He sought to turn the question about whether warning signs are evident in the actions of would-be shooters.

"The way to stop these crimes is to focus on the bad guys," he said. "It's not to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

Later, Cornyn told the USA Today Network, magazine-size measures should be on the table.

"I think magazine size should be addressed," Cornyn said.

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John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JohnnieMo.